Caffeine junkies rejoice! Coffee, once deemed harmful to health, is in fact a low-risk drink and in many ways a beneficial one, suggest reports released this month by various medical research institutions across the world.

Researchers at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Centre at the University of South Florida this month released findings that demonstrated how caffeine in early adulthood can prevent the onset of memory problems.

"Caffeine has been shown to reverse memory impairment in aged mice bred to develop Alzheimer's symptoms," said Gary Arendash who conducted the research.

"Caffeine is a safe drug for most people, it easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process."

The Harvard School of Public Health also gave coffee a vindication this month. Rob van Dam, a coffee researcher and epidemiologist at this institute said that "coffee was seen as very unhealthy, but now we have a more balanced view. We're not telling people to drink it for health, but it is a good beverage choice".

A study published by the journal Circulation in the first quarter of this year looked at data on more than 83 000 women over 24 years. It showed that those who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had a 19 percent lower risk of stroke than those who drank almost no coffee.

The Boston Globe also reported last month that 20 studies from around the world shows that coffee lowers the risk for Type 2 diabetes, in some studies by as much as 50 percent.

And for those worrying that they're still drinking too much coffee and planning to cut back, a word of warning: Abrupt caffeine withdrawal can trigger headaches according to Dr. Alan Leviton, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School.